During the late summer of 2011, our family got split up for some of our vacation. Here is one way we kept up with events by each of us:
Dates
J & L Go to Ecuador
M & V Stay Home
08/03
Wed AM
Depart on plan for Ecuador from RDU
Install shell on Mariner to hold J&L, M&V stuff
Return from airport
Final prep for departure (no bikes this trip!), instead brought softball gear (and good thing)
08/03
Wed PM
Arrive in Ecuador
Vera has a riding lesson at PHF
Leave PHF and arrive half-way in Central VA
(leave shell at PHF, no longer needed lost a pad)
Contact Aunt D & Uncle D; possible to meet but some logistics to work out.
08/04
Thu
Leave pretty early (about 0815) and leave some of M's clothes hanging in bathroom at Super 8
Early lunch at Mccallisters in Front Royal; get one refill cup for future visits!
Swim at magnificent facility (WARF); V did some laps (and some "pearl diving in lap lanes")
then both M & V went down the long water slide multiple times!
Call Aunt D & Uncle D; looking better to meet as they pick up two of their kids and head to the beach driving right by Nan & DR's house!
Arrive and have wonderful dinner at Nan & DR's.
Assist Nan with PC stuff while V starts a chess tournament with DR!
Find batting cage (Extra Innings) in nearby town and spend an hour+ in softball batting cage! So much that V had blisters even after wearing batting gloves the whole time
Meet Uncle S & Aunt D & Uncle D along with Cousins E & B mid afternoon! While Uncle S was there at Nan & DRs got some photos of him coaching V for softball
Have dinner at Nicks Airport Inn 4 star restaurant with Nan & Daddy Royd! MUCH fancier than the name might lead you to expect!
08/06
Sat AM
M packs up while...
Nan took V outlet shopping! Then met M at the Extra Innings batting cage again where the cages were a bit finicky and required some repair.
V tried wrapping band-aids and special tape, but those blisters from yesterday's many batting rounds really keep her from taking more than two rounds of swings. Trade tokens already purchased for an Extra Innings shirt for V (and M gets a matching shirt since they were only $5). Get two shirts but lose that special tape!
Rain comes in pretty hard while out. Western MD could really use it!
08/06
Sat PM
Had wonderful homemade soup for lunch at Nan & DR's
V continues chess tournament with DR while M completes PC work with Nan
Leave Western MD for NC circa 2:30pm (was shooting for 1230, sigh)
Stop at Macallisters 90 min out and have that $0.99 refill!
Stop at WARF again 2 1/2 hours out on the way back and both M & V swim laps and replay trips down that water slide!
Dinner at Subway
Quick stop at Super 8 about an hour past Subway which quickly found M's clothing that had been hung in bathroom!
One more gas stop and one last stop at WalMart after getting gas to find some "classic" music -- a Best of Doobie Brothers collection which promptly put V to sleep but kept M up until return home at about 11pm.
08/07
Sun AM
Update again to Wordpress, noting that technical difficulties kept the team from posting photos or updating the blogs. Good to know that they are OK and have many stories to share when they get back!
Went to C3H, got there before services and M assisted only a bit in audio; V went willingly to middle school youth group
Charlie gave excellent sermon. Wouldn't you know it the Sermon audio recorder gave out before the sermon ended, but the backup recorder which captures whole sermon was working!
Install low loss rechargeable AAAs in each recorder before leaving
Take J Per & J Pel with V to lunch at Panera; recruit at least J Per to play softball for church team if necessary
Church softball game in 95 deg heat and sunny, thank goodness for some breeze, both M & V were a bit winded afterward!
To the showers, both of you!
After recovery and finishing chores like laundry and putting away items from trip, then find that most stores are closed, but
Some shopping on this Back to School tax free weekend at KMart and Target
M completes lots of laundry and folding!
Because sermon wasn't completely recorded on Sermon recorder, go to backup whole service copy and edit. Setup on different PC using Audacity and FreeRip to convert the WMA file from Olympus whole service recorder to WAV and then use Audacity (all freeware, work on Windows or Linux)
Made sure to post this wonderful charlie kast sermon!
First day as CIT for Vera at SPlex, get her there by 0815 and to dr appt by 1600
M is supposed to be on vacation, had to make this 1/2 day vacation; at least during these 1/2 days, let the kitten out into the kitchen/family room area so she can roam and attack her older cat sibling!
Another 1/2 day vacation for M after taking V to 2nd day of CIT program at Sportsplex
Get eBikes ready for Saturday EWeek event at NCMLS
Met C Sherman and kids on eBikes down at the Loop for dinner
C S and N S-J rode the eBike, with the mom definitely the more impressed!
Rode home as sun was setting, but M always has two sets of lights in the bag that fits MOST of the racks. New Via Rapido rack doesn't accept panniers well at all.
08/10
Wed
Received e-mail from J at 1115PM that all was well in return to Quito. So many photos, ran batteries down!!
M took a full day vacation -- and prep for return of J & L from Ecuador
Pick up shell left at horse farm when we realized we didn't need it this trip. Pick up replacement foam tape to repair torn tape on bottom of shell.
Authorized repair on neighbor's flute at Music & Arts.
M took an hour "Strength & Stretch" course at SPlex, dropped off V at SPlex and then M had an hour of intense aerobic style workout with one other student at mid-day
After some minor muscle tweaks above, found a physical therapist in Hillsborough near Sportsplex, dropped off V and SPlex and then M had an hour of intense PT
Found neighbor with stroke or heat stroke symptoms and had to convince him to go to hospital, had to call 911 and get ambulance
Oops, thought L & J returned tonight, that is TOMORROW night! So V & M had a bit of a false start heading to the airport when the AA.com site wasn't working to show flight times.
08/11
Thur
Group departs for airport at 5am!
Returns to RDU at 1030PM
J & L get ride with S C and family home from airport as M is watching over V
M is so sore and stiff from aerobics and PT today! M has to work 1/2 day today, though.
Clean and tidy up in preparation for getting J & L from airport late at night (1030PM!)
V hits head on ice while a Counselor-in-Training at SPlex, gets ambulance ride and diagnosed with concussion!
M stays with V at home after dinner at friends house and figuring way to recover car at SPlex!
First day back as a family again, starting late tonight!
08/12
Fri
08/13
Sat
Setup for EWeek at NCMLS begins at 0800AM! Only V & M go that early!
Much of the info for the Ecuador trip was posted on these three sites:
Wed AM
Wed PM
(leave shell at PHF, no longer needed lost a pad)
Thu
then both M & V went down the long water slide multiple times!
Fri
Sat AM
Sat PM
Sun AM
Sun PM
Mon
Tues
Wed
Thur
Fri
Sat
Much of the info for the Ecuador trip was posted on these three sites: